Marathon Pundit: Is Chicago's Mayor Daley planning suburban regime change?

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Is Chicago's Mayor Daley planning suburban regime change?

There's a lot of news percolating in Chicago: Convictions, newspaper bankruptcies, potential indictments, and the 2016 Summer Olympics bid are among some of the big stories in America's third largest city.

But under the surface is Mayor Richard Daley's stalled O'Hare Modernization Program.

Residents of the suburbs in the path of the expansion of the busy hub airport for the most part oppose OMP, as do the public officials who run those towns.

As I blogged on Monday, many Illinois communities, but not Chicago, will hold municipal elections next week.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley appears to be quite aware of that fact, as CBS 2 Chicago explains:

Some suburban leaders say the former Daley campaign coordinators have injected themselves into suburban politics because they want to ensure the election of leaders friendly to the city's $15 billion plan to expand O'Hare International Airport.

Former Republican state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines points to the involvement of former Daley political operatives Thomas Manion and Diana Paluch in the campaigns for Bensenville mayoral challenger Frank Soto and Des Plaines mayoral candidate Marty Moylan.

Moylan also is getting campaign help from Daley campaign ward coordinator Rich Pope.